Team 7 (Kakashi)
Naruto chapter 4, page 2, |affiliations=Konohagakure |leaders=Kakashi Hatake, Yamato~Occasionally |manga debut=3 |anime debut=3 |shippuden=No |game debut=Naruto: Clash of Ninja |movie debut=Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow |ova debut=Find the Four-Leaf Red Clover! |media=Anime, Manga, Game, Movie }} Team Kakashi, originally known as Team 7, is a team led by Kakashi Hatake and was formed after the members became genin. The members were selected in order to balance out their talents. Naruto Uzumaki, the worst student in his graduating class, would benefit from Sakura Haruno's intelligence and Sasuke Uchiha's proficiency with ninjutsu. Sakura would similarly benefit from her more battle-capable team-mates, whereas Sasuke would benefit from being forced to work with others. It would be later revealed that Kakashi was chosen specifically to be the leader of Team 7 for two reasons: Being the student of Naruto's father and given the task of keeping the Nine-Tails at bay while unknowingly honouring the promise that Hiruzen Sarutobi made to Itachi Uchiha in secret to keep his younger brother safe and kept from going down a dark path. In time while training them, sharing similar traits to the latter, Kakashi noted the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke to be similar of that to Obito Uchiha and himself. When Sasuke defected from Konoha at the end of Part I, siding with Orochimaru to kill Itachi whom he believed killed their family, Team 7 was disbanded for the next two and a half years. By the time of their reunion at the start of Part II, though still technically a genin, Naruto gained new strength under the guidance of Jiraiya while Sakura's education under Tsunade made her both battle-capable and a skilled medical ninja. The two are reunited with Kakashi and are reformed as Team Kakashi to go and rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki's Sasori and Deidara. In the process, from a dying Sasori, the group gains intel that Sasori was to meet a spy he placed in Orochimaru's inner circle. However, with Kakashi wounded from the fight, Team Kakashi was temporary placed under the command of Yamato with the addition of Sai to fit the spot left by Sasuke. Though Sai was given a mission by his superior Danzō Shimura to assassinate Sasuke, his new-found resolve to help Naruto and Sakura bring their former friend back to Konoha gained him acceptance as a member of Team Kakashi. During the second attempt to find Sasuke after news of him defeating Orochimaru reached them, Team Kakashi forms a Eight Man Squad with Team Kurenai to find him. However, inference from Tobi causes the group to lose Sasuke's trail as he was spirited off by the masked ninja. After Tobi reveals the Konoha Council being the ones who forced Itachi to kill the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke affiliates himself with the Akatsuki and becomes an international criminal. When Sasuke's attack on the younger brother of the Fourth Raikage reaches Konoha, becoming acting Hokage prior and seeing it as excuse to end the Uchiha line, Danzō declares Sasuke a criminal to be killed on sight. During the Kage Summit, despite Naruto's attempt to convince the Kage to spare Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi separately attempt to kill their former team-mate to prevent future implications. However, the two were horrified to find that Sasuke has become completely heartless as he reveals his intention to destroy Konoha itself. By that time, Naruto is confronted by Tobi, who reveals Sasuke's new target of his hatred to the boy and the revelation Naruto and Sasuke are destined to clash as they inherited the Will of Fire and the Curse of Hatred. Arriving in time to save Sakura from their former friend, seeing that he is on verge of passing the point of no return as the Fourth Shinobi World War begins, Naruto resolves that fighting Sasuke is the only way to stop him even if means they both die in the process. Missions ;Find the Lost Pet Tora * Rank: D-rank * Status: Success Team 7 was assigned to find Tora, a lost cat owned by the Fire Daimyō's wife, Madam Shijimi.Naruto chapter 9, page 5 ;Escort the Bridge Builder * Rank: C-rank (technically A-rank) * Status: Success Per Naruto's request for a more challenging mission, Team 7 was assigned to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves.Naruto chapter 9, page 10 Along the way, they discovered that Tazuna had assassins after him and needed protection while he finished building a bridge. Tazuna did not have enough money to pay for bodyguarding services, and so lied to Team 7 that he only needed escorts. Despite the difficulty of this assignment Team 7 stayed by Tazuna's side until the bridge was completed, successfully protecting him from Gatō and his men. ;Find Genmai (OVA only) * Rank: D-rank (turned B-rank) * Status: Success In the anime OVA special, Team 7 had to search for a man from the Inaho Village, Genmai who was kidnapped by a group of missing-nin and their leader, Kajika. Kakashi gets trapped in a spell technique with Genmai after finding him and Kajika and his group kidnap Sakura after a little scuffle with Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke defeat Kajika and his team-mates and Team 7 return Genmai to his son. ;Miscellaneous D-Rank Missions * Rank: D-rank When Team 7 returned from the Land of Waves, they were given a number of uneventful assignments. These included pulling weeds, picking up litter, and walking dogs. Kakashi noted that their teamwork has deteriorated during these missions. ;Stop Gaara/Find Sasuke * Rank: A-rank * Status: Success During the Invasion of Konoha in Part I, Kakashi assigned Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun to find Sasuke and Gaara. This stated to be the first A rank mission since the Land of Waves.Naruto chapter 116, page 18 ;Complete Paw Encyclopaedia (Anime only) * Rank: D-rank * Status: Success In the anime, Team 7 was assigned by Nekobaa to obtain Nekomata's paw print. This mission was meant for Sasuke Uchiha when Itachi Uchiha assigned Sasuke a small game to get all the ninja cat paw prints. However it was revealed that Itachi wanted Nekomata to test Sasuke when he's older if he's strong enough. ;Protect the Runner (Anime only) * Rank: B-rank (possibly A-rank as Tsunade stated) * Status: Success In the anime, Team 7 was hired to protect Idate Morino during his race. ;Rescue the Kazekage * Rank: A-rank (S-rank in the anime) * Status: Success At the start of Part II, Team Kakashi was sent to help Sunagakure rescue Gaara from Akatsuki. Sasori, one of the Akatsuki members, was killed during the course of the mission, and Gaara was saved. ;Infiltrate Orochimaru's Hideout * Rank: A-rank * Status: Failure Using information gained from Sasori, the new Team Kakashi (led by Yamato) went to Kusagakure to meet with a spy in Orochimaru's ranks.Naruto chapter 285, page 3 Although hoping it would give them an ;Protect the Twelve Guardian Ninja Tombs (Anime only) * Rank: B-rank * Status: Failure In the anime, Team Kakashi and temporary member Sora were assigned to find and stop thieves robbing the tombs of former Twelve Guardian Ninja. They were unable to stop the grave robbers or reacquire the stolen bodies in time. ;Back-up Team 10 * Rank: Unknown * Status: Success Following Naruto's completion of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Team Kakashi was sent to help Team 10 fight Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu.Naruto chapter 337, page 18 Their combined efforts were enough to kill the latter. ;Hunt for Itachi and Sasuke * Rank: Unknown * Status: Failure As part of an Eight Man Squad, Team Kakashi started a mission to capture the missing-nin Itachi Uchiha. It called for the squad to split up and search the area for any sign of Itachi. However, upon seeing Deidara's suicide explosion, the team regrouped, with Kiba finding Sasuke's scent. With Sasuke so close, the squad's primary mission of finding Itachi was replaced with finding Sasuke instead. While being stalled by Akatsuki member Tobi, the team learned that Itachi had died in battle with Sasuke. They tried to reach Sasuke before Tobi could, but failed and were unable to rediscover Sasuke's trail. ;Protect the Tsuchigumo clan Kinjutsu (Anime only) * Rank: Unknown * Status: Success In the anime, Team Kakashi is sent on a mission to assist the near-extinct Tsuchigumo clan protect its destructive and forbidden technique from bandits as per a peace agreement made between the clan and the Third Hokage. ;Protect the treasure (Anime only) * Rank: Unknown * Status: Success In the anime, Team 7 was given the duty to protect valuable treasure that was kept in a box from bandits. On route Jako's gang tried to steal the treasure but were ultimately unsuccessful. The treasure was revealed to be a golden statue of a bear which was severely damaged during the mission but afterwards it was melted down and remoulded. Trivia * Due to Sasuke's defection, all four original members of Team Kakashi have not been seen together for 308 chapters, from chapter 176 to chapter 484. Episode-wise, it is for 326 episodes, from episode 108 to Shippūden episode 214. * All three original members were trained by the Sannin in the gap between Part I and II. * This photo and the official one of Team Minato is very similar to one another. References